Smoke Alarms

Smoke Alarms

Fast Facts

  • Properly installed and maintained smoke alarms save lives and protect against injury and loss due to fire.**
  • The fire death rate in homes with working smoke alarms is 51% less than the rate for homes without this protection.**
  • Having a working smoke alarm reduces one’s chances of dying in a fire by nearly half.***
  • From 2000-2004, no smoke alarms were present or none operated in almost half of the reported home fires.**
  • An estimated 890 lives could be saved each year if all homes had working smoke alarms.**
  • Sixty-five percent of reported home fire deaths in 2004 occurred in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.**
  • Sprinklers and smoke alarms together cut your risk of dying in a home fire 82% in relation to having neither.**
  • Only 26 percent of families have actually developed and practiced a home fire escape plan.*

Sources: American Red Cross,* U.S. Fire Administration,*** and the National Fire Protection Association.**

Preparedness Tips

  • Place a smoke alarm on every level of your home and outside sleeping areas. If you keep bedroom doors shut, place a smoke alarm in each bedroom.
  • Smoke alarms should be tested monthly and batteries replaced yearly, or as soon as you hear a lowbattery warning which usually sounds like a “chirping” noise.
  • Teach children what the smoke alarm sounds like and what to do when they hear it.
  • Keep smoke alarms clean by vacuuming over and around it regularly. Dust and debris can interfere with its operation.
  • Install smoke alarms away from windows, doors, or ducts that can interfere with their operation.
  • Never remove the battery from or disable a smoke alarm. If your smoke alarm is sounding “nuisance alarms”, try locating it further from kitchens or bathrooms.
  • Plan regular fire drills to practice your escape plan ensuring everyone in your home knows exactly what to do when the smoke alarm sounds.
  • Smoke alarms wear out. Replace your alarms every 10 years. If you can’t remember when you last replaced them, buy new alarms that are interconnected if possible. Install them using manufacturer’s instructions and hire an electrician for installing alarms that are hard-wired into your home’s electrical system.
Smoke Detectors are provided FREE of charge through a cooperative program with the American Red Cross.
Complete the form below and our Community Risk Reduction Officer will contact you.

Please do not assume that your Security System provides monitored fire detection.
Check with your provider or contact our Community Risk Reduction Officer for more information.

Join the American Red Cross to Sound the Alarm. Save a Life.

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